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John 11:1-45

¹ A certain man, Lazarus, was ill. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ( ² This was the Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped his feet with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was ill.) ³ So the sisters sent word to Jesus, saying, “Lord, the one whom you love is ill.” ⁴ When he heard this, Jesus said, “This illness isn’t fatal. It’s for the glory of God so that God’s Son can be glorified through it.” ⁵ Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. ⁶ When he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed where he was. After two days, ⁷ he said to his disciples, “Let’s return to Judea again.” ⁸ The disciples replied, “Rabbi, the Jewish opposition wants to stone you, but you want to go back?” ⁹ Jesus answered, “Aren’t there twelve hours in the day? Whoever walks in the day doesn’t stumble because they see the light of the world. ¹⁰ But whoever walks in the night does stumble because the light isn’t in them.” ¹¹ He continued, “Our friend Lazarus is sleeping, but I am going in order to wake him up.” ¹² The disciples said, “Lord, if he’s sleeping, he will get well.” ¹³ They thought Jesus meant that Lazarus was in a deep sleep, but Jesus had spoken about Lazarus’ death. ¹⁴ Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. ¹⁵ For your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there so that you can believe. Let’s go to him.” ¹⁶ Then Thomas (the one called Didymus) said to the other disciples, “Let us go too so that we may die with Jesus.” ¹⁷ When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was a little less than two miles from Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Many Jews had come to comfort Martha and Mary after their brother’s death. ²⁰ When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, while Mary remained in the house. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. ²² Even now I know that whatever you ask God, God will give you.” ²³ Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴ Martha replied, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die. ²⁶ Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She replied, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, God’s Son, the one who is coming into the world.” ²⁸ After she said this, she went and spoke privately to her sister Mary, “The teacher is here and he’s calling for you.” ²⁹ When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to Jesus. ³⁰ He hadn’t entered the village but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ When the Jews who were comforting Mary in the house saw her get up quickly and leave, they followed her. They assumed she was going to mourn at the tomb. ³² When Mary arrived where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.” ³³ When Jesus saw her crying and the Jews who had come with her crying also, he was deeply disturbed and troubled. ³⁴ He asked, “Where have you laid him?” They replied, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus began to cry. ³⁶ The Jews said, “See how much he loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “He healed the eyes of the man born blind. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?” ³⁸ Jesus was deeply disturbed again when he came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone covered the entrance. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said, “Lord, the smell will be awful! He’s been dead four days.” ⁴⁰ Jesus replied, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you will see God’s glory?” ⁴¹ So they removed the stone. Jesus looked up and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. ⁴² I know you always hear me. I say this for the benefit of the crowd standing here so that they will believe that you sent me.” ⁴³ Having said this, Jesus shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out, his feet bound and his hands tied, and his face covered with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.” ⁴⁵ Therefore, many of the Jews who came with Mary and saw what Jesus did believed in him.

The raising of Lazarus lies at the heart of John’s Gospel. Resurrection
is the greatest of the seven signs. Jesus speaks
enigmatically about Lazarus’ illness: “This illness does not lead
to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may
be glorified through it.” Jesus will manifest glory as the communion
of present life between believers and God. This sign will
glorify Jesus because it will lead to Jesus’ death, a stage on the
way to glorification. So the Gospel challenges readers to deeper
insight. Death is not final.

Jesus intentionally delays his departure for Bethany, heightening
the tension of the scene. Lazarus will have been buried for
four days when Jesus finally arrives. But hearers need to see in
Jesus’ absence the symbolic indwelling of Jesus with the disciples.
Martha greets Jesus in terrible grief. Yet she speaks of personal
transformation: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother
would not have died. But even now I know that God will give
you whatever you ask.”

Their dialogue contains ironic misunderstanding. Noting
that Lazarus “will rise,” Martha affirms contemporaneous Jewish
belief in general resurrection “on the last day.” Jesus replaces
an established religious belief with self-declaration: “I am the
resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though
they die, will live.” Then Jesus asks Martha (and the reader):
“Do you believe this?” She affirms, “Yes, Lord, I believe that
you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the
world.” She understands that eternal life conquers death without
abolishing it.

In Lazarus’s resurrection, readers attempt to see with Martha
that death is not final. Jesus has given life as the ultimate
sign of the power that gives eternal life on earth, promising that
on the last day the dead will be raised.

God, open our eyes to see your glory in the world. Amen.

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John 11:1-45

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Leccionario Semanal

March 27–April 2, 2017

Resumen de la Escritura

Ezekiel 37 presents a vision of the dry bones that represent the people of Israel after the Babylonian invasion—the people have no life. God calls Ezekiel to see the devastation and to prophesy to the dry bones with the message that they shall live. The psalmist cries out from the very depths expressing both a need and hunger for God and a trust in God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. The story of Lazarus’s death and Jesus’ raising him to life calls forth our own stories and experiences of life and death. It draws us in to a conversation that goes deeper than our intellect. It evokes our questions, our fears, our doubts, and our faith. The Romans text offers the good news that the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us. Each of these texts affirms life after death. Death is not the end; death does not have the nal word.

Preguntas para la reflexión

• Read Ezekiel 37:1-14. How has life come to you through death?
• Read Psalm 130. For what do you cry out to God? Pray the psalm, line by line, knowing that God hears and extends mercy and care.
• Read Romans 8:6-11. How has God changed your mind-set, your attitude, to bring you richer life?
• Read John 11:1-45. What in your world needs to die in order for life to come forth?

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John 11:1-45

John 11:1-45

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